Critics of Sri Lankan higher education frequently point to capacity constraints at public universities, which currently have a monopoly on the awarding of degrees, a fact that keeps tens of thousands of qualified school leavers out of the university system each year. Furthermore, the critics point out that those students that do pass through the system are graduating with degrees that have little relevance to the needs of the Sri Lankan labor market, creating a large bank of jobless graduates. In response, the government has introduced a reform bill that would allow for the entry of foreign and private providers, and also look to address issues of quality.
According to data [1] from the University Grants Commission [2], the university-sector regulator, a total of 125,284 students met the minimum ‘A’ Level examination standards for university entry in 2009, yet just 17 percent (21,547) of them earned a place at a state-run university.
The government would like to increase the annual intake to 50,000 students annually, a figure which more closely matches the number that actually applied for university entry in 2009. By investing in the public university system, in addition to opening the sector to foreign and private universities, the government believes it can not only double the number of places on offer each year, but also reduce the number of Sri Lankan school leavers that head overseas for higher studies, while also attracting students to Sri Lanka from abroad. The government estimates that as many as 9,000 Sri Lankan students left the country in 2009 to study abroad, while just 307 foreign students were in-country pursuing higher studies.
Foreign Universities
While foreign universities are currently prohibited from establishing standalone campuses in Sri Lanka, there are 57 private institutions offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in collaboration with 15 foreign partners, according to [3] Minister for Higher Education S.S. Dissanayake, who is driving the proposed education reforms.
The bill, which was recently approved by the Sri Lankan Cabinet and is expected to go before parliament for approval in early June, would offer foreign universities in good standing (ranked among the world’s top 1,000 universities) free land in addition to generous tax concessions, especially if developed in more remote areas of the country. Universities would be required to reserve 20 percent of places for scholarship students, while also giving the government a ‘stake in their operations.’
According to various recent media reports, the government has already been in discussions with as many as 25 foreign institutions, 15 of which have reportedly expressed a strong interest in establishing campuses in Sri Lanka.
Australia’s Monash University [4], Beijing Normal University [5], India’s Bangalore-based Manipal Medical College [6], Tokyo University [7], the London College of Fashion [8], Liverpool University [9] and Thailand’s Asian Institute of Technology [10] are among the institutions that have been mentioned. Universities in Malaysia and the United States are also said to be interested in campus opportunities. Five universities are reported to have already submitted plans to the Sri Lankan government in anticipation of the passage of the bill. The ministry has said that it will initially allow 10 to 15 foreign universities to establish programs, in order to maintain high quality standards.
As noted above, the government hopes that the foreign universities that establish campuses in Sri Lanka will help reduce the number of Sri Lankan students heading overseas for higher studies, in addition to attracting foreign students to the island nation. Ultimately, the government has expressed an ambition to develop the country as an attractive destination for foreign students, with a goal of attracting 12,000 foreign students by 2015 and 50,000 by 2020 [11] (or 100,00, depending on your source). According to Dissanayake, the ultimate goal is to challenge Singapore and Malaysia as regional hubs for higher education.
To attract foreign students the ministry has already selected six universities – Colombo [12], Jayawardenepura [13], Kelaniya [14], Peradeniya [15], Ruhuna [16] and Moratuwa [17] – to be upgraded to world-class standards during a first phase, expected to begin this year after the enactment of the new bill. Three more universities – Rajarata [18], Jaffna [19] and Eastern [20] – are slated for increased government investment in a second phase of upgrades.
However, in order for any state university to significantly increase foreign enrollments, the current 5 percent quota imposed on domestic universities’ foreign admissions would have to be increased. The government has said that by next year it will increase the cap to 10 percent of total enrollments. In particular, the minster talks of attracting foreign students from Japan, India, China and Malaysia (accounting for 80 percent of the total).
When it comes to keeping Sri Lankan students in country, one field of particular concern is medicine. Many Sri Lanka students opt to study medicine abroad due to the shortage of places at the nation’s medical schools. In response, private colleges have been looking to establish partnerships with foreign institutions to develop in-country training. One such example is the privately owned Malabe Medical College, which was established two years ago [21] in collaboration with Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod University [22]. The five-year MD program requires a final year at the Russian institution; however, the University Grants Commission and the Sri Lanka Medical Association [23] stated late last year that they will not recognize medical degrees from the college as it is not registered as a medical college and there are concerns over infrastructure. The Malabe case brings into clear focus the need for guidelines and quality control procedures in the sector.
There are also reports that China’s Tianjin Medical University [24] is looking to establish a campus in association with the Sino-Lanka Education Institute in the suburbs of Colombo. Under current plans, students would be required to study three years in Sri Lanka and two years in China to complete their medical degree. Currently, there an estimated 500 Sri Lankan students studying in Tianjin at the medical university, which reportedly awarded 80 percent of its overseas scholarships to Sri Lankan students (44 total) this year, and has been enrolling Sri Lankan students since 2004.
Quality Assurance
Also included in the proposed legislation, named the Higher Education Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Quality Framework Bill, are provisions for the formation of a quality assurance and accreditation council that would be responsible for regulating foreign affiliated institutes already operating in the country, in addition to any new foreign campuses. A restructuring of the University Grants Commission, which oversees Sri Lanka’s state universities and licenses new ones, is also envisioned.
Under the plans, the government hopes to appoint a regulator for the higher education sector, which currently lacks an independent authority or proper mechanisms to evaluate quality standards at higher education institutions. The bill describes an independent quality assurance and accreditation council not only for universities but for all higher education bodies looking to award degrees in both the public and private sectors. The body would also be responsible for the implementation of a Qualification Framework for Higher Education, much like the National Vocational Qualification Framework [25] implemented by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission [26] in 2005.
Private Universities
While the provision of the bill related to the entry of foreign providers might be of most interest to those on the outside looking in, the most contentious aspects of the bill for Sri Lankans are the provisions that would change the 1978 University Act by allowing private institutions to award degrees. Current laws make no provisions for private universities.
According to ministry officials, there would be provisions within the amended University Act that would allow existing universities to establish affiliated university colleges and branch campuses. These colleges would operate as private institutions, managed by the university and offering the same degrees as the main campus, in addition to professionally oriented courses tailored to meet local labor market needs. While still somewhat unclear, it seems that the bill would also allow for licensed and accredited standalone private universities to award degrees.
The announcement last year was cause for significant unrest [27] and protests at university campuses around the country. The government has therefore been careful to avoid referring to such campuses as private universities for fear of being accused of commercializing education, preferring instead the term ‘non-government universities.’ For students and other detractors of the privatization plans, education is viewed as a common-good service that should be free to all, rather than a commodity to be sold to those who can afford it.
Student unions have said that the bill was a way for the government to avoid upgrading existing public universities and of sidestepping further substantial investment in higher education.
According to a statement from the socialist-affiliated International Students for Social Equality [28] in November of last year, the laws would “further erode the access of young people to tertiary education and worsen the conditions facing students in the country’s public universities.”
However, according to a January article [29] in University World News, these detractors have lost their voice in parliament, while the government has made assurances that it will not privatize state universities. These promises seem likely to help bring about the passage of the bill.
Conclusion
Sri Lankan higher education is variously criticized for failing to meet student demand, maintaining outdated and low quality standards, and for failing to match instruction with the needs of the labor market (resulting in high levels of graduate unemployment).
The Ministry of Higher Education believes that the provisions in its bill to amend the current laws governing higher education in Sri Lanka would go a long way to solving those issues. By opening the sector to foreign and private providers, while also increasing investment in key public universities, the government believes it will begin to address the capacity issues. In conjunction with the expansion plans, the ministry plans to develop a quality assurance system that would regulate and maintain standards, while also responding to the needs of the labor market by establishing a qualifications framework based on marketable learning outcomes. And finally, export income from increased overseas enrollments would help not only internationalize tertiary studies in Sri Lanka, but also bring in extra funding.
Of course, there are those who remain skeptical of the bill and what it envisions. These skeptics point to a number of concerns: Will underpaid domestic faculty leave public institutions for better earning potential at private or foreign campuses? Will a two-tier system of institutional quality emerge, with access to the best institutions available only to those who can afford it? Will foreign campuses address labor-market needs or just offer programs likely to make money? Will they invest in infrastructure?